David Villa made an immediate impact for his new team when
he scored the opening goal to give Atletico the 1-0 lead going into halftime. Though
Barcelona countered with an equalizer
in the second half courtesy of wonder kid Neymar, they were at times outplayed
by Atletico Madrid. In fact, Atletico Madrid exposed some of the issues that
plague Barcelona on defense and revealed how vulnerable they are on the
counterattack. Overall, Barca were lucky to have carved out the draw and
Atletico Madrid rather unlucky not to have taken what would have been a well-deserved
victory.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of positives for Atletico
Madrid on the new season and, hence, it’s really not surprising that they go
into their second game in La Liga as the hot favourites. This favouritism
continues through various other markets – for example, bookies are leaning
towards a 2-0 win with the shortest odds at +550. A 1-0 win is trading at +650
while a 3-0 win is on offers at +700 and a 2-1 win is going for +750. As well,
Atletico Madrid to win both halves is the favoured outcome at -138.

The odds are stacked
against Rayo Vallecano

It’s not just that Atletico Madrid is a heavy favourite
across the board and in every aspect of the game’s betting markets but also, on
the flipside, the soccer odds are stacked heavily against Rayo Vallecano.

The visitors head into this game as the hefty underdogs at
+900 to win outright and even the draw is an unreachable outcome, according to
bookies, at +425 at Bet365. That said, a 1-1 draw is tipped at +900. It’s
actually the only score with a Rayo Vallecano stake in it that is tipped in the
three-digit range. All other outcomes are priced above +1000 – such as a 0-0
draw that is priced at +1400 and a 1-0 win by Rayo at +2500. All other scores
verge on the outrageous with 2-1 score going for +2800 and a 3-0 score to Rayo
going for a hallucinatory +15000.

Now Rayo Vallecano did begin the season with a 3-0 victory over
Elche CF but seeing that Elche recently returned to top-flight action following
a 24-year hiatus there is little to take away from that result. It wasn’t that
Rayo were that great but rather Elche were that poor.

Soccer Betting
Verdict

This matchup has to be one of the most straightforward of the
weekend’s soccer betting card. Atletico Madrid is hands down the smart pick to
win outright. The only question that needs to be answered: how convincingly
will they do it? We’re plumping down for a complete and utter routing at the
Calderón and a clean sheet for Atletico.